Shrinking Magic

Shrinking plastic is fun. Not least because you can watch it curl and shrink but it can also produce endless hours of fun. You can make a labyrinth of items - Christmas decorations, key rings, jewellery, figures for role play, labels, puppets, to list a few.

The premise is that you work on a piece of thin but substantial plastic and when heated in an oven at 150 degrees for a matter of minutes, it shrinks by up to 7 times in density and size.

There are two types of plastic - smooth - which you can use permanent markers on or - sanded - which you use pencils crayons on. There are also great packs which have everything pre-printed - animals, princesses, football, pretty much anything.

It's worth noting that you need to make holes in the plastic prior to baking to create holes later . This allows you to create a key ring, pendant, or even create a puppet with moving limbs by using split pins.